HUNDREDS of people gathered at the Drill Hall in Carlton on Saturday for an evening of wartime songs, stories and supper.
The ‘It Will All Be Over By Christmas (But It Never Was)’ charity event attracted over 200 guests and raised hundreds of pounds for Netherfield & District WI, the We R Here charity and Carlton & District British Legion.
The charity event took guests back in time to the Christmas of 1918, when surviving soldiers who had been abroad fighting during World War One returned home following the end of the conflict.
In attendance on the night were the Mayor of Gedling, Councillor Meredith Lawrence; Vernon Coaker, Labour MP for Gedling; Jane Jefferson, Chair of the Nottinghamshire Federation of the Women’s institute; and officers of the Royal British Legion.
To begin proceedings Carlton Brass performed a medley of wartime favourites. Singer Lily Taylor – Ward, a local soprano singer, also entertained the audience with a selection of period tunes.
A hearty meal of beef stew and dumplings, along with a helping of bubble and squeak, was served to the guests and was chosen to reflect wartime rationing at the time.
Local models were invited to take to the catwalk later in the evening and showcase a selection of authentic costumes worn during the era. On display were soldiers and suffragettes uniforms, wartime wedding dresses and even a gamekeeper costume.
The Spotlight Drama Group of Netherfield explored the centenary of the naval battle of Jutland and what it meant to those who served in it before Lily Taylor-Ward led the audience in a singalong from the music hall which concluded with everyone upstanding for a patriotic ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.
Carlton Brass finally brought the evening to a close with the ‘Last Post’ intertwined with Auld Lang Syne.
